Neither of the other two guessed what Li Yin was silently plotting so Shun Tao nodded and went on to explain what steps might need to be taken if the dragons weren’t able to deal with Longjun’s predicament.

"In other words, it could be that Jing He will not be able to finish his trial in the mortal realm?"

Shun Tao nodded once again. "Correct. I have checked his scroll of fate just now and I think he should be in the clear. He has finished enough trials to not be punished by Heaven afterward. For now, I will try to have him pass some more trials. I already thought of what would be easily achievable and put something down. But here’s the possible problem that I see: His reincarnation just met with a person that is affiliated with Hong Bao."

Qiang Yan raised his brows. "That certain servant girl that was banished? How come she’s involved in this?"

Shun Tao sighed and could only shrug his shoulders. "I also wouldn’t have thought that this would be possible. But somehow, she met with this person and also joined a deity sect or, I should rather say, she joined a demon-hunting sect."

Even Li Yin couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow. "That girl became a demon hunter?" Why had he so much trouble imagining that?

Shun Tao smiled wryly. "That is indeed the case. I was also surprised when I noticed. Well, back then, I didn’t think it would be a problem. After all, how likely would it be for her to meet with Zhong Jing Yi? But now, the person he met is actually one of her senior martial brothers and from what I’ve seen in her scroll of fate before, she’s really close to this person. So it is quite likely that the two of them could meet up."

Qiang Yan furrowed his brows. "But even if, wasn’t her memory of the time in the Nine Heavens erased? She shouldn’t know who he is."

Li Yin nodded. "That is true. There definitely wasn’t any mistake made in this. She won’t remember anything at all."

Shun Tao nodded, not arguing this point. "That’s true. But … this is Hong Bao we’re speaking about. Even if she doesn’t remember, I just can’t help but worry that something might happen. And even if it wasn’t her, the two of them are still practitioners. It is very likely for them to bring his fate off track once again. You also know how that kind of thing can influence a scroll of fate."

Li Yin gave a hum in return. "Actually, this matter is quite delicate. Not exactly because of His Highness but because of the implications her development might have. The girl was banished, her memories erased and the spiritual energy that she cultivated in the Nine Heavens taken away. Well, she never cultivated here so there wasn’t anything to do in that regard but still.

"If she has joined a demon-hunting sect, then that means she is a practitioner now. Even though demon hunters seldom live a long life, she could be an exception. If she actually manages to ascend in the future …" He shook his head. "This will be difficult to deal with."

Qiang Yan turned to him, his brows furrowed tightly. "But even if she ascends, she shouldn’t be able to remember anything, should she? After all, just because she ascends, the previous things wouldn’t be undone."

"They won’t and she will not know anything but she was banished. If she ascends now, then what are we supposed to do? In general, ascending means that she will have the right to enter the Nine Heavens. But with the banishment … It will be a tough decision to make. One I’m not keen on making. We should probably bring this thing up with His Majesty as well." Looking at it that way, he should be happy that Shun Tao had bothered to include him in this talk. At the very least, he had gotten a fair warning.

Shun Tao furrowed his brows at that. "If you bring it up, then I’m sure that he will never agree to let her into the Nine Heavens. She almost got his son killed after all. AND we know how his Majesty thinks about this. If he could, he’d probably put her to death."

"I’m sure that he would love to but there’s hardly anything he can do, is there? After all, she was already punished for what she did wrong. Now, this is a different matter altogether. The question is just how her ascending and the banishment can go hand-in-hand. Is just her leaving enough to say that the punishment was fulfilled? After all, she doesn’t remember. So if she comes back, then that wouldn’t be her fault and it can’t be said that she violated the previous punishment. It will be on us to make a call."

The three men fell quiet until Qiang Yan knocked on the table. "Let’s not talk about that for the moment. Even if she joined a demon-hunting sect, it’ll be a long time until she can ascend. And that is still barring that any accidents will happen until then. For now, it is more important what to do about Jing He. How likely is it that it will become a problem if he meets Hong Bao again?"

Shun Tao showed a difficult expression. "I can’t say for sure. Since she doesn’t remember it could be that nothing will happen at all. But just the fact that the two of them already had an encounter before might make this matter become bigger than we can currently anticipate. I’m not sure if I would like to take the chance. But just with the scroll of fate I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep them from meeting."

He glanced at Li Yin and gave a wry smile. "Actually, I had hoped that the God of Justice would be able to do something here. You’re in charge of the ascended deities. Isn’t there anything you can do?"

Li Yin shook his head. "You got it wrong. I’m not in charge of the ascended deities per se. I’m in charge of governing their ascensions and putting them in the right places. But that is all. There’s nothing I can do about a demon hunter in the mortal realm. Unless … they somehow had ties to the Nine Heavens and were making trouble. Should that Hong Bao remember and do something, then I would be able to help you."

Shun Tao sighed. "So I guess there’s no way for you to help us out here."

Li Yin vaguely motioned with his hands. "I did promise to come with you to the Heavenly Emperor, didn’t I? I feel like I’m already very helpful in doing that. This is more than I need to do after all."

Shun Tao’s lips twitched but he didn’t say anything. In a way, Li Yin was right. He didn’t have to help him so he couldn’t expect anything. "Well, I guess that is all we can do for now then. We should go and tell His Majesty then."

The other two got up and nodded but Shun Tao gave a wry smile. "I do have to ask for an audience before that."

The other two exchanged a glance but sat back down. "Of course. You go ahead then. I guess a few more minutes won’t make a difference."